Routes of Famous European Explorers and Spanish Conquistadors

Comprehensive flashcards covering European explorers from Portugal, Spain, England, France, and the Netherlands, as well as the Spanish conquistadors and their impacts on indigenous populations.

Age of Exploration

A period in European history beginning in the late $1400s$ when various nations sponsored voyages across the oceans; also known as the Age of Discovery or Age of Encounter.

Bartolomeu Dias

A Portuguese explorer appointed by King John II who became the first European to round the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa in $1488$.

Vasco da Gama

A Portuguese navigator who followed the path of Bartolomeu Dias and reached Calicut, India, successfully providing a sea route from Western Europe to Asia.

Christopher Columbus

An Italian explorer hired by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain who became the first European to reach the Caribbean in $1492$.

Lucayan people

A branch of the Taínos inhabiting most of the Caribbean who were the first indigenous Americans encountered by Columbus; they were nearly eradicated by $1520$ due to fighting, enslavement, and disease.

Francisco Vasquez de Coronado

A Spanish conquistador who sought the mythic "Seven Cities of Gold" and became the first European to see the Grand Canyon and the American Southwest.

Ferdinand Magellan

A Portuguese navigator commissioned by Spain whose ship and crew made the first circumnavigation of Earth, although he died in the Philippines in $1521$.

Circumnavigation

A term meaning a complete trip around the world.

John Cabot

An Italian explorer who sailed for England and explored the coast of Newfoundland, Canada, in $1497$.

Sir Francis Drake

An English privateer tasked by Queen Elizabeth I to steal from Spanish ships who completed a circumnavigation of the globe from $1577$ to $1580$.

Jacques Cartier

A French explorer who sailed up the St. Lawrence River, claimed Canada for France, and gave the territory its name.

Giovanni da Verrazano

An Italian explorer tasked by France who traveled the East Coast of North America from modern-day Florida to New Brunswick in $1524$.

Henry Hudson

An English explorer sailing for the Dutch East India Company who reached modern-day New York and the Hudson River while looking for a Northwest Passage.

Abel Tasman

An explorer for the Netherlands who became the first European to reach New Zealand, Tasmania, and Fiji in $1642$.

Conquistador

A Spanish or Portuguese word meaning "conqueror," referring to explorers who sought to conquer lands in the New World for their home countries.

"For Gold! For God! For Glory!"

The motto of the conquistadors representing their search for riches, the mission to convert indigenous people to Christianity, and the pursuit of fame.

Juan Ponce de León

A Spanish conquistador who became the first governor of Puerto Rico and led the first exploration of Florida while searching for the "fountain of youth."

Hernán Cortés

A Spanish explorer who arrived in Mexico in March of $1519$ and led a campaign to destroy the Aztec empire with the help of indigenous alliances.

Francisco Pizarro

A Spanish explorer who conquered the Inca Empire in the Andes Mountains of Peru and founded the city of Lima.

Atahualpa

The emperor of the Inca Empire who was captured and executed by Francisco Pizarro, despite offering $24\,\text{tons}$ of gold and treasures as ransom.